re: Engineering Career Advice - Mechanical, Chemical, Petroleum

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Mechanical engineering is a possibility but he also keeps talking about Petroleum or Chemical engineering. I'm ignorant of the long term prospects in PE versus ME or CE.

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Just an FYI, “CE” typically refers to civil engineering, while “ChE” is used for chemical.

As far as long-term prospects.. any engineering degree will open a ton of doors in the long run. The base curriculum you learn in engineering programs (basic sciences, calculus, statistics, etc.) gives you a strong foundation to go into many different fields. Your career is what you make of it.

That being said, there are big differences early in a career. As others have noted, PETE is the most limited of the degrees you listed. The list of companies recruiting PETE majors out of college just isn’t as big.

Mechanical engineering is the most flexible, IMO, with ChE being slightly behind. If he has no idea what field he wants to work in, mechanical is probably a safer bet. If he knows he wants to work in oil & gas or chemical manufacturing then ChE offers equal or greater opportunity.

Also depends on what his strengths are. Not sure about Clemson, but at LSU the math curriculum is more difficult for ME’s (much more focus on calculus, even in the engineering classes) while the chemistry curriculum is more difficult for ChE’s.